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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: GOLDEN KNIGHTS vs JETSMay 19, 2018Ben ChiarotAndrew CoppAdam LowryWinnipeg, Manitoba: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Adam, does winning tomorrow's game start with the belief that you can win being down 3-1 at this point? ADAM LOWRY: Well, we have the belief. Fourth game is the hardest one to win. I think we feel like we've been right there in this whole series. I think for the most part we really liked our game last night. We've been a great team at home all year. We know if we get out to a good start, we're going to put ourselves in a good position to win that game, try and force the pressure back on Vegas. Q. Andrew, obviously the first goal has been paramount in this series. How big is it tomorrow night to get that one? ANDREW COPP: Yeah, I mean, it's going to be really important, not only just to score the first, but just to have a good start. We felt like we actually started okay last game. Just kind of got in penalty trouble early. That can determine how it looks like you start. Yeah, I mean, I think they've probably had the better starts in the series. I think getting off to a good start is going to be really important tomorrow. Q. Ben, giving up the goal after you guys tied the game has been a bit of a trend in this series. How do you I don't know if the word is 'calm down' after you tie the game, to be sound defensively, stop that bounce-back goal? BEN CHIAROT: I don't think it's so much what we do. Any time you score a goal, you want to come out and have a hard shift. They come out, they come hard, just put pucks to the net. I think it's usually that fourth line that comes out after we score a goal. We know we're going to have a hard shift. We just have to be prepared for it. Q. Andrew, in your estimation, how much of it is Fleury and how much of it is a situation where you're gripping the sticks a little tighter right now? ANDREW COPP: I don't know if it's us gripping the sticks too tight. We've been in pressure-packed situations all year. Even in Game 7, I don't think we were gripping our sticks too tight. I think it's just the combination of they have really good defense, obviously their goaltender playing really well. I don't think it's us getting overly nervous or overly anxious to put the puck in the net. I think it's a factor they're a great defense. Obviously Fleury is playing great. We had a lot of great chances, a lot of good O-zone time. We feel like the bounces are going to come our way at some point. If we keep getting that zone time, getting those pucks to the net, they're going to start going in. Q. Adam, I'm not sure what you guys consider a good chance, there were certainly several last night, but was there enough last night? Do you have to create better chances than you did last night? ADAM LOWRY: I think there's enough chances to win. When it's 2-2 with six minutes left, you're right in the game. It certainly would be nice to feel like we get a bounce where it ends up in the back of the net. You look at the puck Wheels throws to the net in the first period, goes through Fleury's feet, ends somehow sitting right in front of the goal line. Sometimes we feel like those have been going in for us. He's been playing real well. I think we've been doing a good job getting in front of him. Now it's kind of funny in those second and third opportunities, he's doing a good job of stopping that first shot. They do a good job of not really allowing any free ice in front of him. It seems like pucks have kind of just been bouncing past our first layer and second layer. I think we just need to continue doing what we're doing. I think it will start to come for us. Q. Ben, the weight of having to win three in a row, I know you don't look at it that way, how do you block that out, really do that cliché one shift, one game? Is it tough to do that? BEN CHIAROT: I mean, in the back of your mind, you're going to have the big picture there, winning three in a row. Once the day comes, once game day comes, you're just focused on that day, what you do to prepare for the game. Once the puck drops, that's all you're focused on is your next shift. That's all you really think about, is taking it one shift at a time. It's cliché, but that's how you have to take it. If you look at it big picture, we got to win three in a row, it seems like a big job. When you break it down into segments, it becomes easier. Win your next shift, next period, just keep going. Q. Adam, what do you do for the rest of the day? Do you try to clear your mind and not think about the game tomorrow? Do you watch a bit of extra film? ADAM LOWRY: Me personally or in general? Q. You personally. ADAM LOWRY: I'll play some video games (laughter). We're going to go have a meeting after this. We'll talk about the game. Obviously you're going to watch your shifts. You have a routine going into the night before a game. You have certain things that you're going to want to do. You just try and get back to doing that routine. For me, I'll be playing some video games. Q. Andrew, what about yourself? Will you watch the Tampa game tonight? ANDREW COPP: Yeah, I'll probably watch the Tampa game tonight. I'll try to get my mind off of it, talk with friends and family, try to stay away from the game as much as possible. I'll watch a little bit of that game tonight. It will be hard for it not to creep in just because it's such an important game. But everyone has their own ways of preparing for the game. Early bedtime, eating all the right things, doing all the right things. Obviously, yeah, mentally prepare for tomorrow, talk about our approach, whatnot. For me, I'll try to get away from it a little bit before bed. Q. Ben, with just the support from the fans, they say they're so nervous. Do you know how much this means to them, but do you try to block that out? BEN CHIAROT: When you're at the center of it, you don't really realize the scope of things, how many people are involved and paying attention. I don't think you can think about that, how many people we have watching us. It's a little daunting when you think of a whole province or even whole country watching us play. You just focus on what you do, the guys in the room. That's all we focus on. Q. Andrew, you referenced zone time. Things are going well. You're spending a lot of time in Vegas' zone. Over a thousand games, that means quite a lot. Does it mean anything to you right now? Does that help with motivation? ANDREW COPP: I think it just shows we're capable of playing a game that's in their end and on the puck. I think that just kind of gives us some confidence. Obviously we've beaten these guys throughout the year. Obviously going back to Game 1, we thought we played a really solid game. Even in the last two games, we played solid, the bounces haven't gone our way. Like the Fleury one last night through his feet, Buff with an honest slapshot. That doesn't happen too often. I think it just gives us confidence for our offensive game going forward. Q. Adam, is any of that maddening as you see those pucks close to going in? 99 times out of 100, Byfuglien makes that shot? How does that feel for you? ADAM LOWRY: It's a little frustrating. You look at the chances we've had, somehow gets a skate blade on it, we hit the post, hit the tip when you seem like you have the whole net. At the same time I think you have to look at it, look that we are getting those chances, we are creating a lot of positive things. I know we're down 3-1 in the series. I think you look at the third period we had in Game 3, you lose that game 4-2 with an empty netter. Last night I think we lose 3-2, it's a 2-2 game with six minutes left, so... I feel we believe we're right there in the series. I don't think it feels like it's a 3-1 series. We believe we're right there. We have a lot of belief we can come back. It's a little frustrating when you have those things, that much zone time, the pucks might not be going in as frequently as we are used to. But I think if we continue to kind of stick with that fast game we play, strong on the cycle, creating chances off that, we're going to start to find some success. Q. Ben, is the earlier start tomorrow at all easier? A little bit less time to fret, more time to get into game play? BEN CHIAROT: It doesn't really matter. I mean, 7:00, 2:00, we'll are ready all the same once puck drops. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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